Now, I'm not exactly sure what the definition of "marriage" is for an MMO player, but Trion Worlds claims to have set a world record for most in-game weddings in a single day.

Over 21,000 couples were married in the game RIFT on Valentine's Day last month. Historians will undoubtedly refer to this day as the most wide-scale devaluing of marriage in any 24-hour period. Can someone explain to me how gay marriage is purportedly destroying marriage, but 21,000 couples getting fake-married for a publicity stunt barely even makes the news?

Also, I can't help but wonder what the in-game divorce rate is.

The ESA Has Schizophrenia When It Comes to SOPA

When the SOPA legislation was tearing up the newswire, a large cross section of gamers were surprised and disappointed when the Entertainment Software Association announced their support for the controversial bill. However, it quickly became clear that several prominent members of the ESA were not in agreement with the association's official position.

Several developers—including Epic Games, Trion Worlds, and 38 Studios—voiced their displeasure with the bill and with the ESA. However, throughout the entire kerfuffle, the ESA did not waiver in its position. They repeatedly reiterated their support for the bill. That is, until the entire thing was over. After the legislation had been nuked, the ESA finally agreed that the proposition was actually a problem.

Something tells me that if things had come out differently, the ESA would have been bragging about how right they were all along.

Paul Christoforo Doesn't Learn

Remember Paul Christoforo? He's the Ocean Marketing representative who made a colossal fool of himself in front of the entire Internet by picking a fight with Mike Krahulik from Penny Arcade. The whole thing taught us all a valuable lesson about how to treat other people when you think no one is listening. Well, it seems that the only person who didn't learn a lesson is Christoforo himself.

Earlier this month, a Redditor uploaded an image that shows Christoforo picking yet another fight with a PAX staff member. This particular Penny Arcade employee happens to run the company's Twitter account.

If you'll remember, Mr. Christoforo was permanently banned from all future PAX events because he can't stop himself from being a jerk. Then, Krahulik uploaded their conversation to the front page of Penny Arcade and Christoforo had his life intricately picked apart by hackers until he begged for them to stop.

Part of me thinks that the conversation has to be fake. I mean, no one on earth would want to relive that kind of unabridged embarrassment, right? Well, the PAX employee seems to be taking it seriously enough. So, who are we to say otherwise?

If this turns out to be true, I'm sure the Internet will be happy to dole out yet another spanking, and not one of those fun spankings either.

Remember Paul Christoforo? He's the Ocean Marketing representative who made a colossal fool of himself in front of the entire Internet by picking a fight with Mike Krahulik from Penny Arcade. The whole thing taught us all a valuable lesson about how to treat other people when you think no one is listening. Well, it seems that the only person who didn't learn a lesson is Christoforo himself.

Earlier this month, a Redditor uploaded an image that shows Christoforo picking yet another fight with a PAX staff member. This particular Penny Arcade employee happens to run the company's Twitter account.

If you'll remember, Mr. Christoforo was permanently banned from all future PAX events because he can't stop himself from being a jerk. Then, Krahulik uploaded their conversation to the front page of Penny Arcade and Christoforo had his life intricately picked apart by hackers until he begged for them to stop.

Part of me thinks that the conversation has to be fake. I mean, no one on earth would want to relive that kind of unabridged embarrassment, right? Well, the PAX employee seems to be taking it seriously enough. So, who are we to say otherwise?

If this turns out to be true, I'm sure the Internet will be happy to dole out yet another spanking, and not one of those fun spankings either.

Game Developer Sentenced to Death in Iran
The vast majority of news that comes out of gaming-related media outlets leans toward the ridiculous, but there's a story developing in Iran that we should all be taking very seriously.
Amir Mirza Hekmati is an ex-U.S. Marine and video game designer from Flagstaff, Arizona. After traveling to Iran to visit his family, Hekmati was arrested by the Iranian government, convicted of espionage, and sentenced to death.
But what could Hekmati have done to deserve this sentence? He designed a video game.
That's right, the Iranian government feels that Amir's games are specifically designed to "manipulate public opinion in the Middle East." And being critical of Iran is apparently punishable by death.

An Iranian television station ran this confession (which was most likely obtained forcefully): "After (working for DARPA), I went to Kuma," the confession reads. "This computer company was receiving money from the CIA to (produce) and design and distribute for free special movies and games with the aim of manipulating public opinion in the Middle East. The goal of the company in question was to convince the people of Iran and the people of the entire world that whatever the U.S. does in other countries is a good measure."

According to Amir's family, much of this statement doesn't line up with the truth: "Amir did not engage in any acts of spying, or 'fighting against God,' as the convicting judge has claimed in his sentence," Hekmati's parents stated. "Amir is not a criminal. His very life is being exploited for political gain."

I don't know if we have any readers in the Iranian government, but if we do, I'd like to ask you a question; if you're really so worried about the public's opinion of you, don't you think you should stop indiscriminately killing people? The things you do in reality are far worse than anything Amir Mirza Hekmati could have put in his video games.

ByJosh Engen
Contributing Writer
Date: March 21, 2012

*The views expressed within this article are solely the opinion of the author and do not express the views held by Cheat Code Central.*